Abstract
Welding of zinc-coated steel sheets for the automotive industry has been investigated experimentally and theoretically, using a continuous wave 2 kW CO2 laser. The specimens of 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2 mm thickness were welded as butt joint and lap joint. Argon gas was shielded co-axially to reduce the plasma and to protect the molten, pool from atmosphere. The mechanical tests of specimens were carried out to investigate the ductility of welds in butt joint and lap joint, using the Erichsen test, ball punch test and tensile shear test. The value of transverse weld pattern is higher than others. The fatigue life of longitudinal weld is superior, but that of circular weld pattern is inferior due to the high tensile residual stresses in the weld. The maximum Erichsen value was obtained as 96% and the deformability of zinc coated steel butt-welded was found to be 80% in the ball punch test. The high pressure formed by vaporization of zinc with the low boiling temperature during laser lap-joint welding splattered the molten pool and created porosities in the weld. The optimum gap was calculated to be 0.1 mm in the lap joint welding of zinc-coated steel sheet which was a good agreement with the experimental result.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderau, E. A. and Opprecht, J., 1984, “Resistance Seam Welding of Coated Steel Sheets,”American Welding Society 2501, pp. 1–20.
Akhter, R. Steen, W. M. and Watkins, K. G., 1991. “Welding of Zinc-Coated Steel with a Laser and Properties of the Weldment,”J. of Laser Applications, pp. 9–20.
Bagger, C., Miyamoto, I., Olsen, F. and Maruo, H., 1992, “Process Behaviour during High Power CO2 Laser Welding of Zinc-Coated Steel,”Proc. LAMP'92, pp. 553–558.
Baxter, D. F., 1996, “Developments in Coated Steels,”Metal Progress, pp. 31–35.
Brazier, W. G. and Thompson, R. W., 1986, “The Effect of Die Materials and Lubrication on Punch Stretching and Drawing Forces of Cold-Rolled and Zinc-Coated Steels,”Proc. of SAE, pp. 2592–2604.
Gregory, E. N., 1968, “Are Welding of Galvanized Steel,”Sheet Metal Industries, Vol. 45, No. 12, pp. 501–507.
Goldak, J. A., et al. 1977, “A Fundamental Difficulty in Charpy V Notch Testing Narrow Zones in Welds,”Welding J., Vol. 56, No. 4, pp. 119s-125s.
Heyden, J., Nisson, K. and Magnusson, C., 1990, “Laser Welding of Zinc Coated Steel,”Industrial Laser Annual Handbook, pp. 161–167.
Hull, D. M. and Stewart, A., 1985, “Laser Beam Profiles Principles and Definitions,”Laser and Applications, pp. 75–80.
Kim, J. D., et al., 1992, “The Behaviour of Fracture Deviation in the Impact Test of Narrow Laser Welds,”Proc. of the Int'l Symposium on Impact Engineering, Sendai, Japan, pp. 455–460.
Kim, J. D. and Subramanian, R. V., 1988, “Heat Flow in Laser Beam Welding,”4th Int'l Conf. on Welding by Electron and Laser Beams. Cannes France, pp. 175–182.
Krawczyk, J. and Sluzalec, A., 1975, “Strength and Corrosion Resistance of Galvanized Steel Spot Welds,”Welding Research International, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 20–35.
Meuleman, D. J., Denner, S. G. and Cheng, F. L., 1985, “The Effect Zinc Coatings on the Fermability of Automotive Sheet Steels,”SAE 840370, pp. 2910–2915.
Min, J. K. et al., 1996, “A Study on the Spot Weldability of Automotive Steel Sheets,”J. of KWS, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 140–146.
Roessler, D. M., 1991, “Update on Laser Processing in the Automotive Industry,”Int'l. Conf. on Lasers' 91, San Diego.
Roessler, D. M., 1990, “New Laser Processing Developments in the Automotive Industry,”Industrial Laser Handbook, pp. 109–127.
Stevenson, R: 1986, “Formability of Galvanized Steels,”SAE 850276, pp. 2611–2613.
Sayegh, G., 1992, “Technical and Economical Analysis of Multispot Laser Welding in Carbody Assembly,”Proc. of 25th ISATA Symposium, Florence, No. 921003.
Suh, J., et al., 1995, “CW CO2 Laser Beam Welding and Formability of Zn-coated Steel Plates,”J. of KWS, Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 577–587.
Suh, J., et al., 1996, “CO2 Laser Beam Welding and Formability of Steel Plates with Different Thicknesses,”J. of KWS Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 45–54.
Williams, N. T., 1988, “High Speed Resistance Seam Welding of Uncoated and Coated Steels,”Technical Steel Research Commission of the European Communications Report No. EUR 1150 EN.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kim, JD., Na, H. & Park, CC. CO2 laser welding of zinc-coated steel sheets. KSME International Journal 12, 606–614 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02945721
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02945721